Biofotónica

Research activities

Photonic technology is recognized as one of the main candidates for the development of future high performance biosensing devices. This is due to the several advantages that it presents when compared to other technologies, such as high sensitivity, compactness and high integration level, shorter time to result, label-free detection, use of very low sample and reagents volumes, and their immunity to electromagnetic interferences. Additionally, the possibility of using CMOS-compatible materials and mass manufacturing processes to reach very high production volumes and very low costs is another key point for the reached interest.

The Biophotonics group at the NTC holds a large experience in the design, fabrication and experimental characterization of integrated photonic biosensors. We have successfully developed silicon-based photonic biosensors based on photonic crystals, 1D periodic structures and ring resonators for the label-free detection of proteins, antibodies and DNA. Additionally, we have proposed and developed a power-based photonic sensing technique that enables the development of compact and low-cost photonic-based analysis systems.